The rapper formerly known as Kanye West is offering to buy right-wing friendly social network Parler shortly after being booted off Twitter and Instagram for antisemitic posts.
The acquisition of Parler would give West, legally known as Ye, control of a social media platform and a new outlet for his opinions with no gatekeeper.
Parlement Technologies, which owns the platform, and West said the acquisition should be completed in the fourth quarter, but details like price were not disclosed. Parlement Technologies said the agreement includes the use of private cloud services via Parlement鈥檚 private cloud and data center infrastructure.
Ye, was of Twitter and Instagram a week ago over antisemitic posts that the social networks said violated their policies. In one post on Twitter, Ye said he would soon go 鈥渄eath con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,鈥� according to internet archive records, making an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.
Ye is no stranger to controversy, once suggesting slavery was a choice and calling the COVID-19 vaccine 鈥渢he mark of the beast.鈥� Earlier this month, he was criticized for wearing a to his collection at Paris Fashion Week.
The potential purchase of Parler would give Ye control of a social media platform and a new outlet for his opinions with no gatekeeper.
鈥淚n a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,鈥� Ye said in a prepared statement.
The acquisition could also breathe new life into , which has struggled amid competition from other conservative-friendly platforms like Truth Social. Parler, which launched in August 2018, didn鈥檛 start picking up steam until 2020. But it was kicked offline following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. A month after the attack, Parler announced a . It returned to Google Play last month.
鈥淭his deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech,鈥� Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer said in a prepared statement.
鈥擬ichelle Chapman, The Associated Press
